The move signals an industry shift in drinking water treatment processing, an industry where non-biodegradable aluminum-based coagulants are still commonly used.
"We are grateful and excited that Tidal Clear has been officially certified by NSF International," said Peter Moore, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Tidal Vision. "This is an important acknowledgement of our ability to deliver a consistent, low cost and convenient chitosan solution to the drinking water treatment industry. The industry now has an all-natural, biodegradable product to meet their previously unmet potable water treatment needs."
Product certification by NSF, a global leader in public health standards and protocols, serves as an important tool to ensure the safety and suitability of chemicals used in the treatment of public drinking water, and is required in most U.S. states and Canadian provinces and territories.
Treatment plants in the United States process about 34 billion gallons of wastewater every day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Conventional non-biodegradable treatment products contain metals like aluminium and iron in 'clean' water. These metals are often discharged as wastewater sludge at treatment plants. Traditional treatment products, while non-biodegradable, are utilized because they are cationic, or positively charged, and therefore bind to the anionic or negatively charged contaminants in the water.
Biodegradable chitin has a net-positive charge, the only natural, positively charged biopolymer in the world. In nature, chitin is found in the shells of crustaceans and insects.
Tidal Vision extracts chitin from crab shells, a commonly discarded by product of the seafood industry, and manufacturers it into Chitosan. The company's proprietary manufacturing process produces chitosan in a ready to use liquid form. Tidal Vision's expertise in chemistry results in chitosan that is consistent batch after batch and can be individualized for the needs of any client. In water treatment, chitosan binds to suspended solids, heavy metals and minerals, hydrocarbons and other pollutants. In the end, only clarified water remains.